by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
The only way to reverse declines in labor participation and stagnation in wages and demand is to make it easier to start enterprises and hire people.
Mainstream economists are mystified why wages/salaries are still stagnant after 7+ years of growth / “recovery.” The conventional view is that wages should be rising as the labor market tightens (i.e. the unemployment rate is low) and demand for workers increases in an expanding economy.
But wages are only rising significantly for the top 5%, while workers between the bottom 81% who have seen their household incomes decline and the top 5% are experiencing stagnant earnings.